Notification area that persistently rearranges elements

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein are directed to managing elements within a notification area of a graphical operating system. The elements may include any graphic, logo, or image associated with running software. A user indicates which elements can be displayed in the notification area, consequently creating a list of potentially displayable elements. For each listed element, an order of display, file location, and display status is designated. The user may freely change the order in which elements are displayed in the notification area by repositioning the displayed elements. Elements may be permanently removed from the notification area, resulting in their deletion from the list. Only elements entered into the order list, at the discretion of the user, are displayable within the notification area.

BACKGROUND

Since the advent of graphical user interfaces (GUIs), computers havebeen configured to graphically represent information and present thegraphical information to a user for interaction. No longer do users haveto memorize commands for entry at command prompts in order to interactwith modern day computer applications. Instead, today's computersusually use graphics to present interactive software to users, so all auser has to do is manipulate an input device (e.g., a mouse) to usevarious computer applications.

Modern day operating systems (OSs) use a GUI as the primary means ofinteracting with the user. Examples of such OSs include, for example butwithout limitation, the various versions of Microsoft Windows®(developed by the Microsoft Corporation® headquartered in Redmond,Wash.), LINUX, and Mac OS (developed by Apple, Inc.® headquartered inCupertino, Calif.). Some of these OSs display a toolbar area to a userthat provides various functionality, such as a START menu (e.g., inMicrosoft Windows®) for listing available applications, shortcuts toapplications, time, date, etc.

In some OSs, the toolbar also presents a number of elements—which mayinclude unused or transient elements—to the user. Elements, as referredto herein, are icons, indicia, or other graphical representations thatare displayed to a user in a notification area (often referred to as a“system tray”) associated with a toolbar. Often, elements are displayedwithout the user's permission by the initiation of a program. Forinstance, the OS may execute anti-virus software in a background threadof a computer, resulting in a logo for the anti-virus software beingdisplayed in the notification area and kept there permanently or untilthe anti-virus software finishes a task. The user typically cannotremove such a logo and therefore has to endure its display. As a result,the portion of the toolbar area used to display elements (i.e., the“notification area”) is often used as an advertising space forpresenting logos and graphics for software.

Some elements, referred to herein as “transient elements,” areautomatically presented and removed from notification area without theuser directly interacting with the element itself. Transient elementsare elements that automatically appear and disappear from thenotification area without the user directly interacting with the elementitself. For example, a printer icon may be displayed whenever a printjob is queued or a reminder for a user to change a password may bedisplayed every three months without the user indicating a desire fortheir presentation. Others transient elements may be presented inresponse to a user action, even if the action occurred outside thenotification area or toolbar.

Additionally, unused elements may be displayed in the notification area.For example, network & volume elements may be presented unless the userdecides to turn them off, or an anti-virus logo may be displayed at alltimes. An icon for setting up a hardwired network connection may not beuseful to the user if the user always uses a wireless Internetconnection. Traditionally, many unused and transient elements aredisplayed automatically, thereby cluttering the notification area withunusable, non-removable elements that the user may or may not understandor use.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

One aspect of the invention is directed to controlling the display ofelements in the notification area of a GUI. The user may select whichelements can be displayed, thus barring other elements from thenotification area. A list, referred to herein as an “order list,”maintains various entries for elements chosen for display. The orderlist includes an indication of the particular display order for eachchosen element, a file for the element, and the display status of theelement. When a user repositions the element in the notification area(e.g., drags and drops the element to a different position), the orderof the element is updated to reflect the new position. Also, when theuser elects to remove the element from the notification area, theelement's entry in the order list is deleted. Software managing thedisplay of elements is configured to only display those elements in theorder list according to the order designated by the user. Another aspectof the invention is directed to a notification area that displays theelements in the manner previously described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to theattached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary operating environment for usein implementing an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary GUI in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3A-3B are diagrams illustrating an exemplary GUI after a user hasinitiated an overflow feature in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIGS. 4A-4B are diagrams illustrating exemplary GUIs a user removingelements from a notification area in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a flow chart illustrating steps for controllingelements on a toolbar in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter described herein is presented with specificity tomeet statutory requirements. The description herein, however, is notintended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, it is contemplatedthat the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, toinclude different steps or combinations of steps similar to the onesdescribed in this document, in conjunction with other present or futuretechnologies. Moreover, although the term “block” may be used herein toconnote different elements of methods employed, the term should not beinterpreted as implying any particular order among or between varioussteps herein disclosed.

As one skilled in the art will appreciate, embodiments of the presentinvention may be embodied as, among other things: a method, system, GUI,or computer-program product that is embodied on one or more tangiblecomputer-readable media. Accordingly, the embodiments may take the formof a hardware embodiment, a software embodiment, or an embodimentcombining software and hardware. In one embodiment, the presentinvention takes the form of a computer-program product that includescomputer-useable instructions embodied on one or more computer-readablemedia. Computer-readable media include both volatile and nonvolatilemedia as well as removable and nonremovable media.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media comprisecomputer-storage media. Computer-storage media, or machine-readablemedia, include media implemented in any method or technology for storinginformation. Examples of stored information include computer-useableinstructions, data structures, program modules, and other datarepresentations. Computer-storage media include, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory usedindependently from or in conjunction with different storage media, suchas, for example, compact-disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile discs (DVD), holographic media or other optical disc storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or othermagnetic storage devices. These memory components can store datamomentarily, temporarily, or permanently.

Embodiments described herein are directed toward systems for, methodsto, and computer-storage media storing instructions for configuring anotification area of a toolbar to control and manage the display of thegraphical elements presented in the notification area. In oneembodiment, only the elements selected for display by the user aredisplayed in the notification area. The user may also designate theorder the elements may be displayed in the notification area, soparticulars elements will be displayed in the same position relative toother elements.

The notification area, as referred to herein, is a portion of a GUI thatdisplays one or more elements. As mentioned above, elements includelogos, indicia, and other graphics identifying software being executedby an OS. In one embodiment, the notification area is presented on orappended to the toolbar. Alternatively, the notification area may bepresented in a separate GUI window. Because elements are merelyrenditions of logo, graphics, or image files, elements may be stored inany well-known file format—e.g., icon image file format (ICO), taggedimage file format (TIFF or TIF), portable network graphics (PNG),graphics interchange format (GIF), Joint Photographic Experts Group(JPEG), bitmap image file format (BMP), portable document format (PDF),or the like.

The elements described herein may be transient (meaning theyautomatically appear or disappear without user intervention) or selectedfor display by the user. Embodiments are not limited to either type ofelement, however, as either—or a combination thereof—may be incorporatedinto the notification areas described below.

The notification area may be configured to only display a specificnumber of elements and provide an overflow feature that, when selected,enlarges the notification area to display additional elements. Forexample, an arrow pointing away from the notification area may bepositioned on the outskirts of the notification. Once the arrow isselected, the notification may be configured to expand and revealadditional elements presented in a specific order. In an alterativeembodiment, selection of the overflow feature initiates a separatewindow or a window appended to the toolbar, both of which display theelements in a particular order.

In one embodiment, a list of elements in a specific order may bemaintained, and elements, when displayed, will be presented in relativeposition to other elements in order. For example, the list may includethe following five element: (1) a logo for an e-mail application (e.g.,Microsoft Outlook®), (2) a logo for anti-virus software (e.g., NortonAntiVirus® developed by Symantec Corporation® headquartered inCupertino, Calif.), a graphic indicating a speaker control, and (4) agraphic indicating connections to wireless networks. These four elementsmay be listed, along with other elements, in the above sequential orderas entries in an order list stored in a computing device. In oneembodiment, the order list defines what elements can be displayed andthe position in the notification area for displaying each elementrelative to other elements. Thus, the above four elements would bedisplayed, in one embodiment, in the following order: e-mail applicationlogo, anti-virus software logo, speaker-control graphic, andwireless-network graphic. The list may also dictate the order forpresenting elements that are revealed by enabling the extension feature.

Having briefly described a general overview of the embodiments describedherein, an exemplary computing device is described below. Referringinitially to FIG. 1 in particular, an exemplary operating environmentfor implementing the present invention is shown and designated generallyas computing device 100. Computing device 100 is but one example of asuitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention.Neither should computing device 100 be interpreted as having anydependency or requirement relating to any one or combination ofcomponents illustrated. In one embodiment, computing device 100 is aconventional computer (e.g., a personal computer or laptop).

One embodiment of the invention may be described in the general contextof computer code or machine-useable instructions, includingcomputer-executable instructions such as program modules, being executedby a computer or other machine. Generally, program modules includingroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the likerefer to code that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Embodiments described herein may be practiced in avariety of system configurations, including handheld devices, consumerelectronics, general-purpose computers, more specialty computingdevices, etc. Embodiments described herein may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed byremote-processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, computing device 100 includes a bus110 that directly or indirectly couples the following devices: memory112, one or more processors 114, one or more presentation components116, input/output ports 118, input/output components 120, and anillustrative power supply 122. Bus 110 represents what may be one ormore busses (such as an address bus, data bus, or combination thereof).Although the various blocks of FIG. 1 are shown with lines for the sakeof clarity, in reality, delineating various components is not so clear,and metaphorically, the lines would more accurately be gray and fuzzy.For example, one may consider a presentation component such as a displaydevice to be an I/O component. Also, processors have memory. It will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that such is the nature of theart, and, as previously mentioned, the diagram of FIG. 1 is merelyillustrative of an exemplary computing device that can be used inconnection with one or more embodiments of the present invention.Distinction is not made between such categories as “workstation,”“server,” “laptop,” “handheld device,” etc., as all are contemplatedwithin the scope of FIG. 1 and reference to “computing device.”

Computing device 100 typically includes a variety of computer-readablemedia. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable mediamay comprise RAM; ROM; EEPROM; flash memory or other memorytechnologies; CDROM, DVD or other optical or holographic media; magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or similar tangible media that are configurable tostore data and/or instructions relevant to the embodiments describedherein.

Memory 112 includes computer-storage media in the form of volatileand/or nonvolatile memory. The memory may be removable, nonremovable, ora combination thereof. Exemplary hardware devices include solid-statememory, hard drives, cache, optical-disc drives, etc. Computing device100 includes one or more processors that read data from various entitiessuch as memory 112 or I/O components 120. Presentation component(s) 116present data indications to a user or other device. Exemplarypresentation components include a display device, speaker, printingcomponent, vibrating component, etc.

I/O ports 118 allow computing device 100 to be logically coupled toother devices including I/O components 120, some of which may be builtin. Illustrative components include a microphone, joystick, game pad,satellite dish, scanner, printer, wireless device, etc.

The components described above in relation to computing device 100 mayalso be included in a mobile device. A mobile device, as describedherein, refers to any type of mobile phone, handheld device, personaldigital assistant (PDA), BlackBerry®, smartphone, digital camera, orother mobile devices (aside from a laptop) capable of communicatingwirelessly. One skilled in the art will appreciate that mobile deviceswill also include a processor and computer-storage media to performvarious functions. Embodiments described herein mention to both acomputing device and a mobile device. In embodiments, computing devicesmerely refer to devices that are running applications of which imagesare captured by the camera in a mobile device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary GUI 200 in accordance withan embodiment of the invention. GUI 200 represents an OS executing on acomputing device, such as computing device 100 described in reference toFIG. 1. Specifically, GUI 200 includes a toolbar 202, a notificationarea 204, and a removal area 206, all of which occupy spatial portionsof the GUI 200. The notification area 204 includes a clock and thefollowing elements: network graphic 212, hardware-removal graphic 214,volume graphic 216, and anti-virus software logo 218. An overflowfeature 220 is depicted in the form of an arrow on the edge of thenotification area 204. While only four elements are illustrated in FIG.2, one skilled in the art will understand that other embodiments may, infact, display more or less elements. It should also be noted that GUI200 is provided merely for explanatory purposes and is not meant tolimit embodiments to any particular GUI configuration.

In addition to network graphic 212, hardware-removal graphic 214, volumegraphic 216, and anti-virus software logo 218, GUI 200 may also hideseveral elements in an overflow area. When the user selects the overflowfeature 220—for instance, with a mouse cursor 222—the previously hiddenelements in the overflow area is revealed to the user. FIGS. 3A-3B showa portion of GUI 200 after the user has triggered the overflow feature220, according to an embodiment of the invention. Once the overflowfeature 220 is triggered, in one embodiment, the notification area 204expands to reveal additional elements that were previously hidden. Asseen in FIG. 3A, these additional elements include e-mail software logo224, database logo 226, timing graphic 228, and phone applicationgraphic 230.

In one embodiment, the revealed elements are presented in thenotification area 204 in an order dictated by the user. Additionally,the user may freely delete an element from the notification area 204,whether expanded or not, by simply dragging the element out of thenotification area 204 and dropping the element into the removal area206. In one embodiment, this drag-and-drop maneuver deletes the draggedelement from both the notification area 204 and the order list stored onthe computing device.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that various software may be usedto display elements in the notification area 204. For example, theShell_NotifyIcon( ) shell included within the dynamic link library (DLL)Shell32.dll for Microsoft Windows® can be used to present elements inthe notification area 204. Such software can be called to presentelements whenever an application is initiated, currently running, orotherwise invoked by the user. One skilled in the art will understandthat similar or alternative software may be used to display elements;therefore, such software need not be discussed at length herein.

In one embodiment, the order list is a list of all the elements that canbe displayed in the notification area 204. In other words, all elementsthe user desires to display in the notification area 204 are containedwithin the order list. To remove an element from being displayed in thenotification area 204, the user may drag an element from thenotification area 204 and drop the element in the removal area 206. Theremoval area 206 may include any area in the GUI 200, except for eitherthe toolbar area 202 (in some embodiments) or the notification area 204(in other embodiments). Dragging an element from the notification area204 to the removal area 206, called a “sloppy drag,” removes the elementand corresponding information from the order list—thus eliminatingfuture displays of the element, unless otherwise specified by the user.

The order list contains various information for each element that theuser allows to be displayed in the notification area 204. For example,the order list may store elements in a particular order a user wishesthe elements to be presented in the notification area 204. ReferencingFIG. 3A, the order list associated with the elements in the notificationarea 204 indicates that the following elements should displayed in thefollowing order relative to the clock 210: network graphic 212,hardware-removal graphic 214, volume graphic 216, anti-virus softwarelogo 218, e-mail software logo 224, database logo 226, timing graphic228, and phone application graphic 230. In an alternative embodiment,these elements are presented within a separate window 232—as indicatedin FIG. 3B—and displayed according to the order of the order listwhenever the user initiates the overflow feature 220.

The user may manipulate the order for displaying elements by dragging adisplayed element from its displayed location and dropping the elementin another location in the notification area 204. For example, referringto FIG. 3A, if the user drags the volume graphic 216 from its currentlocation and then drops the volume graphic 216 elsewhere in thenotification area 204, the volume graphic 216 will be displayed in thenew location, and an entry in the order list for the volume graphic 216will automatically be moved—or updated—to include the new position. Forexample, if the volume graphic 216 is dropped in between thehardware-removal graphic 214 and the network graphic 212, an entry inthe order list for the volume graphic 216 will be repositioned inbetween entries for the hardware-removal graphic 214 and the networkgraphic 212.

Similarly, if a user drags and drops an element outside the notificationarea 204—e.g., to the removal area 206 illustrated in FIG. 2—an entryfor the element is removed from the order list. Once an element isremoved from the order list, the element can no longer be displayed, inone embodiment, unless the user later adds the element back to the orderlist. The user may be prompted to add an element to the notificationarea 204, resulting in the element being added to the order list,whenever an application is initiated that is not listed in the orderlist. If the user elects to add the element to the order list, an entryis made to the order specifying any of the parameters described below.

The order list may include various information about elements. Forinstance, the order list may store the names of applications associated,file names and locations of files corresponding to elements, the displaystatus of each element, or other information relevant to the display ofthe element. For clarity sake, an element that is being displayed in thenotification area 204 is referred to as a “live” node, and an elementnot being displayed is referred to as a “dead” node. The order listensures that transient element (i.e., elements that automatically appearand disappear in the notification area without user designation) do notappear in the notification area 204.

The order list contains, in one embodiment, entries with the aforesaidinformation for each element designated for display in the notificationarea 204. Each entry may indicate the order, name of the relatedsoftware or application associated with the element, element filelocation or file name, and status (i.e., live or dead). Table 1 belowshows an exemplary order list with fourteen entries, each having thefollowing four different pieces of information: order, software,element, and display status.

TABLE 1 Order List Example ORDER SOFTWARE ELEMENT FILE STATUS 1 networkconnections C:// . . . network_graphic.tif Live 2 device detector C:// .. . device_detector.jpg Dead 3 hardware-removal graphic 214 C:// . . .hardware_removal_graphic.ico Live 4 image reader logo C:// . . .image_reader_logo.tif Dead 5 volume graphic 216 C:// . . .control/volume_graphic.tif Live 6 processing graphic C:// . . .processing_graphic.img Dead 7 anti-virus software logo 218 C:// . . .anti_virus_software_logo.png Live 8 e-mail software logo 224 C:// . . .e_mail_software_logo.jpg Live 9 database logo 226 C:// . . .database_logo.ico Live 10 Windows Media Player ® C:// . . .windows_media_player.tif Dead 11 timing graphic 228 C:// . . . timer.jpgLive 12 Adobe Reader ® C:// . . . adobe.jpg Dead 13 phone applicationgraphic 230 C:// . . . phone.tif Live 14 speech to Voice C:// . . .stv.tif Dead

To present the element in the notification area 204, software configuredto present elements in the notification area 204 may receive and processan element file when the element's underlying application is initiated.For example, with reference to Table 1 above, the TIF file stored atC://...network_graphic.tif could be passed to the Notifiylcon( ) inMicrosoft Windows XP® and rendered whenever network connections arebeing monitored. Once displayed in the notification area 204, or in aseparate window, the status entry in the order list is switched fromdead to live.

Live elements are oriented in the notification area 204, or in aseparate window, according to their assigned order in the order list.For example, elements that are lower on the order list are placedfurther away from the clock in the notification area 204, or possiblyhidden within an overflow area. The notification area 204 may also beconfigured to only display a certain number of elements (e.g., eightelements), resulting in additional elements being hidden until ahigher-order element turns dead or is removed.

In one embodiment, multiple order lists may be created and managed. Onelist contains the elements displayed within the notification area 204.And a second list contains overflow elements. Overflow elements areelements that would be displayed in the notification area 204 if therewere fewer live elements being displayed with higher order. Furthermore,when the overflow area is displayed as a separate GUI window, elementscontained therein may be ordered from top left to bottom right.

An element that has changed status from dead to live, will be displayedrelative to the other live elements according to the order delineated inthe order list. For example, with respect to Table 1, if the WindowsMedia Player® turns live, the file C://...windows_media_player.tif willbe displayed between the database logo 226 and the timing graphic 228.This could result in the last displayed element being hidden if thenotification area 204 or separate window is configured to only display aparticular number of elements. Similarly, if the Windows Media Player®element turns dead, its related element is removed from view and thedisplay of the remaining elements is adjusted accordingly.

FIGS. 4A-4B are diagrams illustrating exemplary GUIs a user removingelements from a notification area in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. As seen in FIG. 4A, a user may drag an element (volumegraphic 216) from the notification area 204 to the removal area 206, andan X 400 is placed in the element's former place on the notificationarea 204 until the element is dropped. Once dropped, the X 400 isremoved, and element's entry in the order list is switched from live todead, thus repositioning the remaining live elements to fill the void.Transparent to the user, the order list for the notification areas inFIGS. 4A and 4B would have been updated so that status of the volumegraphic 216 would be changed from live to dead. As can be seen in FIG.4B, this embodiment would position the anti-virus software logo 218closer to the hardware-removal graphic 214 and move the e-mail softwarelogo 224 from the overflow area into the notification area 204.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a flow chart 500 illustrating steps forcontrolling elements on a toolbar in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. An order list is monitored to determine which elements todisplay in either a notification area, as indicated at 502. The entriesof the order list may contain any of the information described herein(e.g., order, software, file, status) as well as other relevantinformation. The order list is continually monitored, and live elementsare displayed within the notification area, also indicated at 502.Furthermore, elements are positioned according to the order in the orderlist. When the status of an element in the order list turns from live todead, or is otherwise indicated to no longer be displayed in thenotification area, the element is not displayed.

Elements may be moved within the notification area, removed from thenotification, or triggered for display by manipulating entries in theorder list. The three separate paths are performed independent of oneanother by simply changing entries in the order list. Also, even thoughflow chart 500 appears to be sequential in nature, the first step (502)is reiterative, and the three paths are merely ways to effectively move,remove, or display elements by changing parameters in the order list.Because the order list is constantly being monitored, changes to theentries effectuate changes to displayed elements. Additional elements,other than those specified by the user and included in the order list,are not allowed to be displayed in the notification area, in oneembodiment.

To move an element within the notification area, a user may drag anddrop the element in another area of the notification area, indicated at504. Once such an indication is received, the order associated withmoved element is changed to reflect the dropped position, as indicatedat 506. For example, if the element is dragged from the first positionnext to the clock to the third position, the order assigned to theelement is changed to reflect a position between the second and fourthdisplayed elements. The orders associated with the other elements in theorder list are then updated to account for the moved element's newposition, as indicated at 508.

To remove an element from the notification area, the user may move theelement into a removal area (e.g., a portion of GUI other than thenotification area), as indicated at 508. As a result, an entry for theremoved element is deleted from the order list, as indicated at 510. Inthis embodiment, the removed element can not be displayed because onlyelements in the order list can be displayed.

Elements are typically displayed by calling a particular displayfunction, such as the NotifyIcon( ) shell in Microsoft Windows®, andproviding the display function with a file for the element. Theinitiation of an application or other software may result in a call tothe display function to display an associated element, as indicated at512. For example, an element for an anti-virus program may be shown whenthe anti-virus program is running. Or a particular driver have anelement associated with it, and use of the driver may trigger a call todisplay the element. Calls to the function may be monitored, andrequested elements checked against the order list, indicated at decisionblock 514. If the element is in the order list, the element's status ischanged to live (indicated at 516), so the function can present theelement. If the element is not in the order list (indicated by the NOpath), no changes are made to the order list, and the element is notdisplayed.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and methodological acts, it is to be understood thatthe subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarilylimited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, thespecific features and acts described above are disclosed as exampleforms of implementing the claims. For example, sampling rates andsampling periods other than those described herein may also be capturedby the breadth of the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. One or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructionsembodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, perform amethod of displaying an element within a notification area of agraphical user interface of the computing device, the method comprising:storing a plurality of elements on a computing device in an order listthat identifies the plurality of elements that are identified by a userto be a group of elements from which to display one or more elements inthe notification area of the graphical user interface, wherein eachelement is at least one of a graphic, logo, or image associated withportions of software or applications, wherein the user is able to addelements to the order list to be displayed in the notification area ofsaid computing device and delete elements from the order list such thatdeleted elements no longer appear on the order list and will no longerbe displayed in the notification area of said computing device, whereinthe order list specifies a value indicating an order desired by the userfor a display position for each element in the notification arearelative to the display position in the notification area of all otherelements identified by the order list based on the order in which eachelement is stored in the order list, and wherein the notification areais a graphical user interface window which is separate from the orderlist; displaying in the notification area, one or more elements from thegroup of elements in the order list, each element displayed in aposition relative to each other based on the display positioncorresponding to the value indicating the order specified by the user inthe order list, wherein additional elements not identified by the userin the order list to be displayed in the notification area are notallowed to be displayed in the notification area; receiving anindication to change the display position of an element displayed in thenotification area to a second position in the notification area, whereinthe element is included in the one or more elements displayed in thenotification area when an element-related application is running on thecomputing device; changing in the order list, the value indicating theorder in the order list of the element for which the instruction wasreceived to specify the value indicating the order of the secondposition; and upon an initiation of an application corresponding to theelement, displaying the element in the notification area according toits current corresponding value indicating the order in the order list.2. The media of claim 1, further comprising updating one or moreindications of order, within the order list, wherein the one or moreindications of order are associated with additional elements.
 3. Themedia of claim 2, wherein the one or more additional elements are beingdisplayed within the notification area.
 4. The media of claim 1, whereinthe order list contains one or more entries associated with theplurality of elements, each of the one or more entries includes a statusindication specifying whether each of the one or more elements is beingdisplayed in the notification area.
 5. The media of claim 1, wherein theindication to move the first element comprises a user dragging anddropping the first element using the mouse.
 6. The media of claim 1,wherein each of the one or more entries includes the location of agraphic for an element.
 7. The media of claim 1, further comprising:receiving an indication to remove the displayed element; based on theindication to remove the displayed element, deleting an entry associatedwith the first element; and refusing to display the display elementbecause the entry no longer is contained in the order list.
 8. The mediaof claim 7, further comprising: identifying at least one element in anoverflow area based on an entry in the order list indicating that thenotification area has an overflow of elements; and moving the at leastone element to the notification area.